Utah trailblazers feted as heroes

Thirteen business trailblazers representing 10 companies that do everything from providing health care to selling hiking equipment were honored Thursday as recipients of the 2004 Utah Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

"These individuals have never given up. They've never been content with the status quo," said David R. Jolley, managing partner for the Utah office of Ernst & Young, speaking of the 25 finalist companies that were represented at the awards ceremony in the Salt Palace.

"The American dream is alive and well. We see it today with the entrepreneurs" in this room, he said.

A video presentation prior to Jolley's remarks described entrepreneurs as the "lifeblood of the global economy" and "modern-day heroes."

That would include entrepreneurs like William H. Nelson, president and chief executive officer of Intermountain Health Care and one of this year's award recipients. He joined the company in 1976 as chief financial officer and has since helped it become one of the biggest health-care players in the region.

But other award recipients this year were from smaller companies in a diverse group of industries, like Stuart B. Utgaard, who runs Midvale-based Sportsman's Warehouse; Brent L. Brown, who sells cars through his Brent Brown Automotive Group; and John Bresee and Jim Holland, who turned their love of the outdoors into a successful Internet company, Backcountry.com.

The finalists and award recipients prove that "Utah is a state of innovators with great ideas and limitless potential," Jolley said.

And as he looked out over the glitz and glamor of an event that he previously has described as "an Academy Awards of the Utah business community," Jolley said he was struck by the fact that it takes guts to be an entrepreneur.

"They've taken risks. They've suffered setbacks," he said, but in many cases, Thursday's award recipients have revolutionized their industries.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, echoed that sentiment in a statement printed in the event's program.

"From the earliest days, Utah has built a heritage of hard work, personal responsibility and community involvement," Bennett said. "This ethic is perhaps best expressed in our one-word state motto, 'industry.' The entrepreneurs of today continue to exemplify that tradition of hard work and innovation."

Utah award recipients will be eligible for consideration for the 2004 national program. Its winners will be announced in November in Palm Springs, Calif.

Regional sponsors for the EOY awards are Comcast, Deseret Morning News, Digital Bytes, Diversified Insurance, Merrill Lynch, Signature Press, The Summit Group Communications, Utah Business Magazine and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

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E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com